326. WILLIAM WADE proceedingsdefend was indicted for that he, on the 15th day of January last, and continually afterwards to the 24th of the said month, at the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster , having, during all the time aforesaid there, the custody, care and management of one Constance Frost proceedingsvictim his apprentice , feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did neglect and refuse to allow and give, or permit and suffer to be allowed and given to the said Constance, sufficient food, drink and necessaries to support her life, he having her care, custody and management as his apprentice as aforesaid, and also that he the said William on the said 20th day of January, and to the 24th of the said month, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did neglect and refuse to provide, allow, and give or permit, and suffer to be provided, allowed, and given proper wholesome and convenient lodging for the said Constance Frost < no role > , but that he on the night of the said 20th of January, and to the 24th of the said month, feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, did force and compel the said Constance Frost < no role > , to be and remain in a damp and wet cellar belonging to his dwelling house, without necessary and convenient bed, bedding, cloathing and covering, and without allowing her the said Constance, sufficient food and necessaries as aforesaid; and that she the said Constance being so compelled by the said William Wade < no role > to be and remain in such damp and wet cellar as aforesaid, on the said 20th of January, became mortally sick and diseased in her body, and she the said Constance, from the said 20th of January to the 24th of the said month, did languish, and languishing did live, and on the said 24th day of January, she the said Constance Frost < no role > , by such neglect and refusal of the said William Wade < no role > , to allow and give her sufficient maintenance to support her life, and also by being forced and compelled by the said William Wade < no role > to be and remain in the said damp and wet cellar without proper and necessary bed, bedding, cloathing and covering as aforesaid, did miserably perish and die; and that he the said William Wade < no role > , feloniously, wilfully, and of his malice aforethought, her the said Constance Frost < no role > did kill and murder .

The said William Wade < no role > was also charged on the coroner's inquisition, with the wilful murder of the said Constance Frost < no role > .

THOMAS LAMBERT < no role > sworn.

I only attend as an officer of the parish. I was bound over by the coroner.

JOHN VAUGHAN < no role > sworn.

I am a lodger in the prisoner's house.

Court. Did you lodge there in the month of January last? - Yes.

Did you know the prisoner's apprentice girl, Constance Frost < no role > ? - Very well.

When did she die? - On Saturday the 24th of January.

When did you know of her death? - I knew that morning, I was the person that first saw her.

Where did you see her? - I saw her in the cellar, she had tambled out of the bed in a fit I imagine.

Do not tell us what you imagine, but describe the situation in which you first saw her? - When I first saw her she was on her knees, seemingly as if she had tumbled out of bed, with her under petticoat on.

What time of the morning was it? - About ten.

Was she leaning against any thing? - Her head might be against the wall, for ought I know; she was almost upon her face, her head either rested against the wall, or against something that was near the wall.

How came you to go into the cellar? - Her mistress desired me to go down, she had called her, and she did not answer, only said, Hah!

Do you know whether Mrs. Wade had been down or not? - I do not know, I rather believe not.

You do not know with certainty? - I do not.

Was the prisoner at home? - No.

When you saw her in that posture, did you speak to her, or go up to her? - I called to her, but she did not answer, and I lifted her upon the bed, and put a blanket over her.

In what situation did she appear to you to be in when you lifted her upon the bed? - When I lifted her upon the bed, I thought she had been quite dead, but as soon as I lifted her up, she fetched a sigh; I put a blanket over her.

Go on, and relate what you saw and what passed? - Then I was sent immediately for a doctor.

Who sent you? - Mr. Gaunt, the parish officer.

How came he there? - He came in just at the time, I had not been in I suppose a minute before he came.

Did you bring a doctor? - I went to the doctor's house, and he said he would come immediately, and he did come in a few minutes.

What was his name? - I think his name was Davis; I do not recollect his name.

Where does he live? - In Parliament-street, I think it is; he came, as I was informed, I do not recollect seeing him.

What sort of a cellar was this? - A brick cellar, the bottom was done with bricks, it is a brick floor.

What doors or windows has it? - One window and a door.

What sort of a window? - A window fronting the street.

But what sort of a window is it? - I believe it is a kind of flap to put down.

Not a glazed window? - No, not a glazed window, it shuts down close with a flap.

Have you observed it? - Yes, I have observed it.

Was the floor of the cellar wet or dry? - It was wet, there was water in the cellar, which came in, I believe, at the spring tide.

Where is Mr. Wade's house? - In Tufton-street, Westminster , there was water in the cellar then, and there was water on the far side, there was a very little water near the bed.

Was there a bed in the cellar? - There was a bed in the cellar that she laid on.

How long had you lodged in this house? - About four or five days, I believe.

Had the deceased laid in the cellar during that time? - I believe she did, I do not know perfectly.

Was that bed laid on the floor, or on any bedstead? - It was laid on two rabbit hutches.

What sort of things are those, describe them? - They are square things, like packing cases or boxes.

The remainder of this Trial in the next Part, which will be published in a few Days.

THE WHOLE PROCEEDINGS ON THE KING's Commission of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery for the CITY of LONDON; AND ALSO The Gaol Delivery for the County of Middlesex; HELD AT JUSTICE HALL in the OLD BAILEY, On Wednesday the 25th of FEBRUARY, 1784, and the following Days;

Being the THIRD SESSION in the Mayoralty of The Right Hon. ROBERT PECKHAM < no role > , Esq; LORD MAYOR < no role > OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

TAKEN IN SHORT HAND BY E. HODGSON, And Published by Authority.

NUMBER III. PART VIII.

LONDON:

Printed for E. HODGSON (the Proprietor) And Sold by J. WALMSLAY, No. 35, Chancery Lane, and S. BLADON, No. 13, Pater-noster Row.

MDCCLXXXIV.

[PRICE SIX-PENCE.]

THE WHOLE PROCEEDINGS UPON THE

KING's Commission of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery for the CITY of LONDON, &c.

Continuation of the Trial of William Wade < no role > .

How far was it raised from the floor? - Between two and three feet.

What bedding was there on the bed? - There were two blankets, and I believe a sheet or coverlid, it was something white, I believe it was a quilt.

You say you put a blanket over her when you laid her on the bed? - I did.

Did you observe whether that blanket was wet or dry? - No, I did not at all observe that in my fright, I cannot pretend to say whether it was wet or dry.

You had been four or five days in this house before? - Yes.

Did you observe in what manner the prisoner behaved to this girl, or how she was treated in the family? - I never saw him treat her ill, the prisoner lodged at my house three months before he came to that house, and he had the apprentice then; he had left his shop that he lived in, and came to my house till he got another house.

In what manner was the deceased treated in the family? - I never observed but what she was treated very well, during the time she was at my house.

But during the time preceeding her death, that you lived in the prisoner's house, in what manner was she treated in the family? - I did not see any alteration, she seemed as usual.

Speak at once, Sir, - I do not know that she was treated ill at all, she was treated very well for ought I know.

You never observed any ill treatment? - I never observed any ill treatment; I met her the evening before in the passage, in the dusk of the evening, carrying a pail of water, but I do not know that I saw her after that evening.

Did you observe any thing particular then? - No, nothing particular, she seemed to me as usual.

In what manner was she fed in the family? - That I cannot pretend to say.

Did you board in the house? - No, I did not, I had a wife and family who lodged there too.

Were you usually at home at meal times? Yes.

Do you know whether this girl lived with the family, with Wade and his wife, or how she was victualled? - Why with Wade and his wife.

Have you ever seen her victualled with them? - Yes, at the other house I have.

During the time she was with Wade < no role > this last four or five days, I confine myself to? - I do not recollect whether I did or no.

Where you at home at meal times? - Yes, at home I was, but I had no business in their apartments.

Did you happen to observe them during these few days or not? - I do not recollect I did.

What appearance had this girl for three or four days preceding the time of her death? - I did not see any thing particular the matter with her, she looked fresh and well in the face as she always did.

Did she look reduced in flesh? - I did not observe she did.

Did she then look fresh and well in the face? - She did.

Now you saw the cellar, and the bed and bedding, as you have described it to us, from the appearance of it to you, taking all together, the cellar, the bed and bedding, did it seem to you as a fit place for any body to sleep in? - The bed was fit enough, but I do not say the cellar was a fit place for any body to sleep in, because of the water coming in.

Did you ever hear the deceased complain of any ill treatment, or of any want of necessaries? - No, never.

Mr. Sylvester, Prisoner's Council. This bed where she lay was three feet from the floor? - Yes.

If I understand right, this is a brick floor, and uneven? - I do not think it is even.

Were these hutches where the floor was dry? - I do not know, but there was not much water there.

Was that the driest part of the cellar? - Of the cellar it was.

And this girl had never complained? - No.

After the officers had been there, you, I believe, told the prisoner that you had heard them say, that he would be taken up for it, what did he say? - I told him of it.

Did he go off? - He went off about his business, but he said he should not run away, for he had done nothing.

Did you see the body afterwards? - Yes.

Was there any marks of violence?

Court. There are no marks of violence charged in this indictment at all, the marks of violence are wholly out of the question; it is charged in the indictment, that intending to starve and kill the deceased, the prisoner did feloniously, and so on, neglect and refuse to allow and give, or permit and suffer to be allowed and given, to the said Constance, sufficient food, drink, and necessaries, to support her life; and did also neglect to provide and furnish, or permit and suffer to be provided and furnished, proper and wholesome lodging for the said Constance, but did force and compel her to be and remain in a damp and wet cellar, belonging to his said dwelling house, without proper and necessary bed and bedding, by means of which she languished and died.

Mr. Sylvester. Had she at all the appearance of a person being starved? - Not in the least in her face.

Now, as to the bed, there was sufficient bed and bedding? - There was for any person to lay in.

The evening before, you saw her with a pail of water? - Yes, in the dusk of the evening, I met her in the passage.

Did you observe any weakness then, particularly? - No, I did not observe any thing, she was about her work as usual.

Jury. As you had a family in the house, what part of the house had you? - The one pair of stairs only.

No part of the kitchen? - No, I had nothing to do with it.

Court. What family had Wade? - A wife and two children.

Had he any lodgers but you? - Yes, a man and his wife lodged in the garret.

What rooms did the house consist of? - Only one room on each floor, two stories high; the ground floor consisted of the kitchen, then the parlour, then the one pair of stairs, then the two pair of stairs; the one pair of stairs consisted of one room and a closet.

Where did Wade and his family sleep? - In the parlour.

Who slept in the two pair of stairs? - The other lodgers, a man and his wife, that was the garret.

Mr. Sylvester. You mean by the ground floor, the bottom floor where the girl lay? - Yes.

The next floor is where Wade and his wife lay? - Yes.

Court. Is not the kitchen and the parlour level with the street? - The kitchen is not level with the street, the parlour is level with the street, it is under that.

Where is the cellar? - It is the same.

Do they cook their victuals in the cellar? - They do not cook their victuals there, it is a cellar or kitchen.

What was there on the ground floor? - That cellar was on the ground floor.

Is not it under ground? - Yes.

Then why do you say it is upon the ground? - There must be ground below it.

Do you think that a proper answer to give in a Court of Justice; do not you understand that that floor which is level with the ground, is called the ground floor, and that which is under ground is called the under ground floor. - The parlour is what I call the ground floor.

Did Wade and his wife lay, and cook their victuals in the parlour? - Yes.

JOHN GAUNT < no role > sworn.

I am the ordinary overseer of the parish of St. Margaret's and St. John's, they are united parishes.

Court. Do you know any fact that has any connection with the subject of this charge, previous to the Saturday morning when you went to the house of Mr. Wade? - On the Thursday before, which is the 22d of January I was at the workhouse board, which we have in the parish every Thursday, and William Wade < no role > came to the board with a complaint, that Constance Frost < no role > had spoiled two beds, and requested we would take the girl back, and exchange her for another; the board thought it rather an extraordinary request as well as myself, and they desired me to call and see the girl, in consequence of which, I called on the Saturday morning following.

Was Wade himself at home? - No.

Who did you see when you came there? - Mrs. Wade; I went, as it is a custom with me, generally of a Saturday, to go amongst the poor of the parish; accordingly, I appointed that morning to call, as the board desired me to call any morning between that and the Thursday following to report it; I knocked at the door, and Mrs. Wade came to the door; I asked if Mr. Wade was at home; she replied, no; says I, have not you a girl of the name of Constance Frost < no role > , your apprentice; yes, she said; says I, can I see her, where is she; in the cellar says she; says I, will you be so good to call her up and let me see her; yes, says she, but I believe she is not well.

Court. The prisoner not being at home, we cannot take what his wife said as evidence; but in consequence of this conversation, did you go down into the cellar? - I did.

Who did you find there? - Before I got down to the bottom of the cellar, I saw a person, which was Vaughan, with a candle in his hand, looking at the girl.

In what situation was the girl at that time? - She was upon these rabbet hutches, I believe, but I am not sure.

What sort of things are the rabbet hutches? - I do not exactly know, they have been two old package boxes, or something of that kind; when I got down to the bottom of the stairs, Mr. Vaughan said, I believe the girl is dead; then I went to the bottom of the stairs, and I looked at her, says I, Good God! surely not; I suppose he and I stood about a minute, he with the candle in his hand, and the girl fetched a sigh; I said to Mr. Vaughan, go up stairs, and go for a doctor immediately; I wrote a note to Mr. Churchill, who is our apothecary,

"Mr. Churchill, please to send Mr.

"Jones, to No. 20, Tuston-street, immediately, "for there is a child dying." I went out of the house to see for Wade, I sent Vaughan off as I could, and asked Mrs. Wade where Wade was, if I could see him; she told me he was then in Tothill-street, baking his gingerbread; I called and asked if there was no woman to be got to take this girl up stairs; I desired her to take a dry blanket off the bed that was in the parlour, and carry it down stairs.

What convenience was there for the girl to lay on? - I believe there was a bed and two blankets; these blankets were very damp and wet, I apprehend either from the girl herself, or from laying some part of them on the ground.

Were they all damp and wet? - I felt the part that was just by the bedside, and that I suppose had got wet from the ground.

Did you observe whether there was any sheet or coverlid, or any thing of that sort? - Upon my word, I did not.

Did any physical man come? - this was all in I suppose two minutes; I asked, have you got no lodger to assist to get the girl up stairs to bed, that was in the floor they slept in, I called out, and at last a woman came down, and I told her to get some assistance and get the girl up stairs, which she did, in the mean time I went to see for Wade where I heard he was baking, I came there, he was not in the place, I ran immediately to the churchwarden, and desired him to come and look at the girl, before I returned they had got the girl up.

The girl did not recover? - No; before I returned Mr. Jones had been there, and she was dead.

When did you first see Wade? - He came home in the mean time, when I came back with the churchwarden, there was an inquisition called, and he remained at home, he was taken up in the evening.

Did you observe the cellar in which this girl lay? - I did.

From the observation that you made of it, and your own view of it, and the situation in which you found it, did it appear a proper place for any body to lay in? - I did not think so.

Mr. Peate, another of Prisoner's Council. You found no obstruction in going down? - No.

Not in the least? - No.

Did you take any observation of the bed? - The bed seemed very wet.

Was it a tolerable one of the kind? - Had it been in a proper place I presume the bed was pretty well for an apprentice.

Wade remained at home all day? - I do not know, he was found at home.

Had you received any complaint from the child in any part of the time of her having been with the prisoner? - No, Sir.

Not at any time? - No.

How long had she been disposed of by the parish to the prisoner? - From the 20th of June.

Are her parents alive? - I do not know.

You never received any complaint from her, or from any person on her behalf? - No.

THOMAS CHILD < no role > sworn.

Do you know any thing respecting this matter? - I have seen this child crying very much in the back yard, and Mr. Wade has been with her in the yard at the same time, and at different times.

What did she cry for? - I do not know.

Did you hear any complaint of want, or proper necessaries? - No, I have heard him tell her in this bitter severe weather, when he has been in the yard with her, that she should not come to the fire all the day.

You have heard Wade say so? - Yes, I have.

What during all that severe weather? - Yes.

Mr. Sylvester. You lodge in the garret? - Yes.

You did not board with the family? - No.

How long did you lodge in the house? - Between five and six days I believe.

How long has Wade been there? - About three weeks or a month.

During the time that he was there, did you ever observe at meal times, whether the apprentice dined with the family, or how she was victualled? - No, I generally went out about my business in the morning.

SARAH MATHEWS < no role > sworn.

I went to the chandler's shop, and a woman came in, and asked for somebody to help her to move the child, and I went in, and she lighted a candle, and I said what is that for, and she lifted up the things, and the child lay dead, with her head back, and her eyes open, and her mouth open. I immediately went up to Mrs. Wade, and told her I thought she was a brute, to put any creature there, I thought it was not a fit place for any body to lay in.

Court to Vaughan. How long had the poor child laid in the cellar? - I do not know how many days, three or four days, not above four or five nights.

Jury. The Jury wish to know, as she had laid but a few nights in the cellar, where she had laid before? - I was told she lay in the room I had before.

Who were you told so by? - By Wade.

How long had you been in the lodging? - About four or five days.

CAROLINE DRAKE < no role > sworn.

What do you know of this matter? - I live next door to the prisoner, I keep a shop there.

Did you know the deceased? - By frequent coming in and out of errands to my shop, she has more than once or twice asked me for bread.

How long before she died? - Within the space of two or three days, as near as I can remember.

What reason did she give you for asking for bread? - She said, she was hungry.

How did she look? - She looked rather bloated in the face, fresh, but so very dirty that it was almost impossible to guess how she looked.

Did you see her the day before she died? - I did, she was in my shop two or three times, before, and I observed of her that she shook very much, particularly her head, as if she had a palsy, which I thought proceeded from the violence of the cold weather.

Did she make any complaint on that day of hunger or of cold? - Not to my knowledge, she did not complain to me, Mr. Wade had alledged so many complaints against the girl to me, that I spoke rather harsh to the girl, when she complained to me.

Mr. Sylvester. I believe you once advised him to beat her.

Court. Surely that is not evidence, I have not questioned her as to the particular of what the girl said, for if she had given any account, or any relation to her of any thing done by her master, being at a time when she was in no apparent apprehension of death or danger of life, I should not think it admissible evidence, but I take the general fact that she complained of hunger, without relating from whence that proceeded, and the general fact of her master complaining against her to be evidence, but not the particular conversation from which that proceeded.

Mr. Sylvester. What was his conduct towards the girl? - As to that I do not know, I never trouble my head with the neighbours, he had not been there above three weeks or a month, I do not know of my own knowledge, he told me he never struck her.

DIANA CROOK < no role > sworn.

I live in Tuston-street, I remember when this girl of Mrs. Wade's died, it was on a Saturday.

Court. Do you remember seeing her during that week or at any time for a few days, before her death? - I do not know that I had seen her for a week or such a time before she died.

Court. Then I do not think any evidence she can give can be admissible; do you happen to know of your own knowledge in what manner this girl was treated by her master? - All that I know about it, my Lord, is this, she came to me one day for two pounds of potatoes, between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, after I had served her, I was dressing victuals, and she asked me for a bit of bread, and she said -

Court. No, do not tell us what she said. - She eat the bread.

Did you observe any thing particular? - Nothing particular.

Did she ever ask you for bread more then once? - No, my Lord, that was a week or nine days before she died.

Did she complain of hunger? - Yes.

MARY CHILD < no role > sworn.

I lodge in the house.

Did you frequently see the deceased, the apprentice girl? - I saw her once a day, I was out at work all the week, I saw her catching water on Friday night about six o'clock, there is a cock at the street door, and she had a pail under it, I asked her if the water was coming in, and she told me it was coming in, and she had filled every thing in the yard, I then went in and asked Mrs. Smith to give me a light, and she came in after me, and the child came in and shook vastly, I thought it was the coldness of the weather, with standing so long at the water cock.

Was Wade himself at home? - No, he was not, she appeared not well, she shook as though she had the ague, I says to Mrs. Wade, says I, Madam, you ought to get her something hot, she said, she would, but whether she did or not, I do not know, I saw no more that night, on the Saturday morning, there was a little girl came up to me, I was tired, and was in bed rather late, it was Mr. Vaughan's little girl, but I did know her, and she said there was a gentleman wanted me, I went down, and it was Mr. Gaunt, he asked me whether I lived in the house, and I told him, yes, and he desired me to do what I could for the child, for the child was very ill in the cellar; I went down, and he left two shillings, to get something hot to comfort her, the girl was not dead, she fetched breath, but her jaw fell as I stroked her, and her eyes flew open, I was so shocked I went to the chandler's shop, and got Mrs. Matthews to come and help me out of the cellar with the girl; she died immediately as I stroked her face with my hand, she just gave a gasp.

Did you observe what sort of a place this was that she lay in? - I thought it was not a place fit for a Christian to lay in, it was a very cold damp place with water in it.

Mr. Sylvester. You came up almost immediately from the cellar? - Yes, directly.

WILLIAM ROLLS < no role > sworn.

I live in Masham-street, No. 15, I know the deceased the best part of the month of December.

Did you know her in the month of January? - No, Sir, I saw her the Sunday before she lost her life in Vine-street, all the particulars I know of her was in the month of December, she used to come three or four times a day to fetch water.

Did you observe any thing particular about her, when she did come? - I thought every time she came she looked more miserable, and more like an object of pity.

On what account did she appear so? - She was without shoes and stockings to her feet as you may call them, for there was neither sole to her shoes or foot to her stocking, I took notice of her one day particularly, I says to her, little girl, what makes you go in that way? one day she came in for a kettle of water, about three in the afternoon, the later end of December, I thought she had put the kettle into the hot liquor, and I told her not to do that, she said to me as this -

Do not tell us what she said, only what she did; - She put her hands into the hot liquor.

Did she appear very cold? - Vastly cold, and all her clothes were worn off her back almost, and appeared to be very cold, and very dirty and nasty, she almost put her head into the water.

Did she complain of cold? - Yes.

Did she complain of any thing else but cold? - No, Sir, no more than that.

Mr. Sylvester. It was pretty cold weather in December? - Yes, it was almost the latter end.

You was not very hot I take it? - No, Sir.

Court. Did she complain of any thing else but cold? - Yes, of hunger.

Mr. Peate. Was it a frost that day? - I cannot tell, it was very cold.

ANN CHILD < no role > sworn.

Did you know the deceased? - I have seen her.

Did you see her before her death? - Not for above a week.

When you did see her did you observe any thing particular about her? - I sell greens, and she came for some potatoes, and we were at dinner, and she asked me for a bit of victuals.

Did she complain of any thing? - No, she did not, I did not ask her any questions.

How often did she ask you for vi ctuals? About three times.

How long before her death might that be? - About a fortnight or three weeks.

ARCHDALE HARRIS sworn.

I am a surgeon.

Court. Were you called on in February to view the body of the child, and when? - On the Saturday in the afternoon, the officers of the parish with some other gentlemen called upon me to desire me to go and view the body of the deceased, I did so.

Did you take sufficient notice to form a competent judgment of the probable cause of her death? - My Lord, the body looked so well that I could see no reason to suspect any thing.

That is to suspect any violence you mean? - Yes.

What was the general state of the body? - It seemed to be in a very good state: what you may say died in a healthy state.

Was it much emaciated? - Not at all.

As much in flesh as might reasonably be expected? - Yes.

Did you open the body at all? - No, there was not the least reason for it, neither do I apprehend I should have got any additional information from opening it, it did not appear so to me.

What appeared to you then from the inspection of the body, to have been the probable cause of her death? - I cannot say; if I had not heard of the circumstances, I should have thought she died a natural death, from the inspection of the body alone.

Did it ever happen to you to examine the body of any person who died from the severity of the weather at any time? - Yes.

Is that kind of death attended with any particular appearances? - Very often upon the extremities.

What are those appearances? - Very often a tendency of mortification in the extremities, frequently of the feet and the legs.

Do you apprehend that tendency of morttification to be always visible, where the death has arisen from that cause? - I think so where it has seized on the extremities.

Now was any such appearance visible of the body of this girl? - No such appearance.

You have been in Court all the time? - Yes.

You have heard the evidence of all the other witnesses, with respect to the place where this girl lay? - I saw the place.

I wish you to describe the place? - It was a very bad place certainly, a damp cellar.

From the appearance of that place, joined with the account you have heard of it from the other witnesses, do you think it likely that the laying in that place for four or five nights during the late severe weather, and preceeding the 23d of January, consistent with the appearance of the body, could be the cause of the death of the deceased? - There was no sign of it, therefore I cannot upon my oath say that it was the cause.

Therefore I find you rather conceive that if the death of the deceased had proceeded from the damp and cold of that cellar, that it would have been likely to have produced some appearances that would have led to that suspicion? - I should think so my Lord, I should have expected some appearances.

As a professional man, I would ask you, if you think that the death arise from the immediate effect of the cold and damp? - I should have expected to have seen some marks of it upon her extremities.

Now if a death is occasioned, and arises from any disease brought on by a damp and unwholesome place, will not that disease generally manifest itself for some time before the death? - I should think she would have had some apparent complaints before the death; I will explain myself a little more fully; it seems to me that where the cause of the death is the immediate effect of damp and cold, and it is a violent death by the severity of the weather, it is usually attended with such appearances as I have spoken of; but when the disease arises from the cold and damp, I should have expected it for some days preceding the death.

Mr. Sylvester. If the death of the party is occasioned by any sudden fit, is it ever unattended with distortion of features? - Sudden death is frequently without distortion, in regard to convulsions it very often leaves a settlement in some parts of it.

You did not open any part? - I did not perceive any purpose it would have answered, I do not apprehend it would have answered any; I did not think there was any cause at all that required it by the appearance of the body.

Court to Vaughan. I think you said that the deceased had on an under petticoat? - Yes.

Did you observe where the rest of the clothes were? - I saw her gown hanging up just by.

Mr. Sylvester to Mr. Harris, Did not you observe the bed was wet within side? - Yes, in several places, it looked as if it had been wetted by a person's laying on it, it was in a circular manner in several places.

Court to Vaughan. How far was she from the bed when you found her that morning? - Tumbled down close to the feet of the bed, her head was the other way.

Court. It does not appear to me in this case, that there is sufficient evidence that this was the cause of her death.

Mr. Sylvester. My Lord, unless there is, it is no matter for the jury to judge upon.

Court to Jury. Gentlemen of the Jury, I do not wish to take up your time more than is necessary for the due and proper administration of justice on the one hand and on the other; I will therefore state to you now, how far this strikes me upon the evidence, and if you after that entertain any doubt in your minds, I will hear the prisoner's defence, and his witnesses, if he has any: the charge against the prisoner, is that of occasioning the death of the deceased by two means specified in the indictment, the first by refusing her the necessary assistance for the support of her life, and the second by neglecting to provide her with other proper accommodations, and forcing her to lay in a damp, wet, and unwholesome cellar, without proper and necessary bed, bedding, clothing and covering, which together are stated to be the cause of her death: Now, in point of law, I think the charge against the prisoner, though it contains no charge of actual personal violence, might clearly be supported by evidence that came up to the charge; and I think it right for the sake of the public, and the numerous persons that are attending here, to declare very fully and clearly that opinion; for it a person intrusted with the care of a young person, or any other, does by the refusal either of necessary assistance, or by any other severity, though not of a nature to produce immediate death, or by the putting them in such a situation as may be dangerous to their life and health, actually and clearly occasion the death of that party, I think in point of law it is murder; and I think further, that it is a murder of a worse kind, than many of those that are attended with greater personal violence, for this reason, that there is greater time in such a case, for deliberation and reflection, and it is never in a situation to be reduced to manslaughter, because it never can arise from any misconduct that can mitigate it: that being the nature of the charge and the law, it is for you to consider how far that is supported in point of evidence, for in proportion to the malignity of the charge, ought to be the clearness of the evidence by which it is supported: now though I think it right to say for the same reason that I have declared my former opinion, that the conduct of the prisoner at the bar has been extremely reprehensible, and in my opinion highly criminal, in placing this unfortunate girl in such a situation, which certainly might have been the cause of her death; yet it is necessary in an indictment of this kind, in which the consequences are so extremely penal, not to throw it upon Courts and Juries, to presume away the life of the prisoner, but that the fact should be proved: and the first fact indispensably necessary to be proved is, that the fact imputed to the prisoner was the cause of the death of the party; that is the very foundation, for unless it is clearly proved that the fact, either of omission or commission was the actual, efficient and immediate cause of the death, it is to no purpose to enquire into the circumstances of it; and I shall, in the present state of the evidence, observe only, that though this conduct has been highly reprehensible, yet you ought, and certainly will divest your minds wholly of all prejudice, arising from your disapprobation of the prisoner's conduct, because you are to try coolly the evidence of the fact, and not to be satisfied with slighter evidence of that which is indispensably in point of law necessary to be proved; although the prisoner has conducted himself criminally, in a less degree, or although fortunately perhaps for him, that criminal conduct is not clearly proved to be the cause of the death: and you have the opinion of Mr. Harris, who is sent for, a man of character in his profession, selected by the parish officers, who in this case seem to have acted with great attention and propriety, for the purpose of making such an inspection as should enable him to form an opinion of the cause of the death of the deceased. Now the two circumstances imputed to the prisoner, are starving her, and compelling her to be in a wet and damp place, coupled with the severity of the weather; and as to the first of these, the evidence of Mr. Harris seems to put it out of all doubt; for whatever complaints the girl may from time to time have made of hunger (and it is not unlikely that she may have been hungry), she was not starved to death, and I think the state of her body, which he has told you, seems to exclude all possibility of that: therefore there is a clearing away of one of the causes assigned in this indictment for the death: the next is, that her death was occasioned by the place where she lay; and upon that also you have the opinion of Mr. Harris; now there are but two ways in which the damp and cold of a place of this kind, can occasion the death of a person; the one is by the unwholsomeness of that damp and cold producing some disease in the party, which in its event may be mortal, in which case the damp and unwholsomeness is the primary cause, and the disease produced by it, is the immediate and efficient cause of the death; the other way is, where the damp and cold operates so much on the party, and produces a chillness and a numbness, attended with a subsequent mortification; and Mr. Harris says it would have produced those appearances which usually attend a violent death of that kind, namely the appearances of a tendency to a mortification visible at the extremities: now although the prisoner's conduct not being the cause of the death, may rather be considered as good fortune, than innocence, yet there were no such appearances on the body; therefore it is Mr. Harris's opinion, that there was nothing on the body that would warrant him to pronounce, that the damp and cold were the immediate cause of the death; if indeed, the damp and cold were the primary cause, and brought on diseases, such as a fever, an ague, or other diseases, there would then be a visible disease for some time preceding the death of the party; now there is no such evidence of any visible disease, except the circumstance of the girl shivering with cold, which is a very likely fact, if there had not been those extraordinary circumstances

of misconduct; but there is no evidence before us of the actual existence of any such preceding disease: thus it stands on the evidence of Mr. Harris; but there is a circumstance which struck me at the time of the first examination of Vaughan, and which induced me to call him again, which was the circumstance of the situation in which the deceased was found; she was found upon her knees, and almost on her face leaning against the wall, as if she had fallen forward with her under petticoat on; I therefore called Mr. Vaughan, to ask him where the rest of her clothes were, and he stated that he did not recollect all, but he recollected that her gown was hanging up: now that seems to me to be a strong circumstance, for if she had perished either through the cold, or disease attended by the damp, she would most probably have perished in her bed; the effects of cold are to benumb, and if she had strength and exertion to get out of her bed and put on her clothes, that exertion would have been sufficient to have prevented her death from cold; but it seems she had got out of her bed and was proceeding to dress herself, and in that state she had fallen forwards: from the circumstance too of her being not quite dead, coupled with the time of the morning, it appears very probable that she could not have been very long in the situation in which she was found; it was then ten in the morning, therefore to be sure, the probability appears that this girl had been getting up in the morning, and beginning to dress herself; so that upon the whole, there does not appear to me to be any evidence before you, to warrant you upon your oaths to pronounce that which you must pronounce before you can go to the other facts; which is, that the facts imputed to the prisoner in this indictment were the cause of the death; if you have any doubt, and do not think the evidence you have heard sufficient to remove it, I will call on the prisoner for his defence.

Jury. There is no occasion my Lord.

NOT GUILTY .

Court to Prisoner. William Wade < no role > : You have in this case had the good fortune, that your ill conduct, as I must call it, with respect to this unfortunate girl, has either not in fact been the cause of her death, or that there has not been sufficient evidence to prove it to be so; the effect is the same as to your acquittal here, for of that, of which there is no evidence, and of that which does not exist, the Court must form the same judgment; but it is my duty to repeat to you, what I have before stated to the Gentlemen of the Jury: that placing this young woman to sleep in that cellar, with but scanty provision in such a place where it was not fit for any person to sleep, and in such severe weather, was a conduct of great cruelty and criminality, and extremely likely to produce the death of this young woman, whether it actually did so or not: and therefore the feelings of your own mind on this occasion should not be those of a man acquitted from a full persuasion of the innocence and rectitude of his conduct, but of a man acquitted for want of sufficient evidence against him: I thought it proper to say thus much to you, and I hope it will make a proper impression on the future conduct of your life.

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. RECORDER.